SOUTHAMPTON — Matt Roland has won a seat on the town’s Select Board after an historic tie vote in May that resulted in Tuesday night’s special election.
Roland finished with about 56 percent of the vote, or 999 votes, unseating incumbent Charles Kaniecki who received 783 votes, or 44 percent.
“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to serve the town,” Roland said. “I’m looking forward to collaborating with the other four members of the board, other committees in town, and am ready to learn as much as I can for making transparent, fair decisions going forward.”
“I congratulate Charlie Kaniecki on a well-fought, fair race,” Roland, 35, said. “He’s been a good steward for a number of years.”
Roland expects to be sworn into office in the next couple days and plans on attending Thursday’s Select Board meeting as a voting member.
At the town’s regular election in May, 638 residents cast votes for Select Board incumbent Kaniecki. Another 638 residents cast their votes for Roland.
The split vote stunned town officials and the candidates. Although other residents were able to join the race for the special election, no other candidates stepped forward.
Roland moved to Southampton from Somers, Connecticut in 2011 and works as a sales consultant with a medical device manufacturing company called Stryker. He said his biggest goal in becoming a Select Board member is to bring “fairness, honesty and fairness” to the board.
“I want to take a collaborative approach to decision making,” he said, noting that with an engaged town populace — the town saw a 40 percent turnout in the May election — he wants to ensure the five-member Select Board makes decisions that are “open to the public.”
Kaniecki, 65, has lived his entire life in Southampton and spent nearly 20 years in a management position with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. He was the chairman of the Public Safety Building Committee and previously served on the Agricultural Committee and Board of Health.
Since May, Kaniecki spent the summer months canvassing around town, knocking on doors, sending mailers and talking to neighbors about the special election. He said the need for the town to develop a capital budget for the next 20 years is “paramount” in order to plan for future expenses, such as maintenance for municipal buildings and the purchasing of ambulances, police cars and highway equipment.
“I retired three years ago, and I chose to run for the Select Board because I felt like I could dedicate the amount of time necessary to serve on the board,” Kiniecki said while the polls were still open on Tuesday.
The Select Board unanimously decided in June to hold a dual election coinciding with Tuesday’s primary, which saved the town around $750.